


The Profiler's Detective

by DawnSumner



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Eventual Romance, F/M, Friendship/Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-06
Updated: 2019-10-23
Packaged: 2020-11-24 20:27:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20913617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DawnSumner/pseuds/DawnSumner
Summary: For the last five years, Detective Natalie Clemmons has been hot on the heels of a serial killer preying on young foster teens. No one believes he exsists. Not only another body is found. There is no other choice but to call in the BAU. It's here she meets up once more with David Rossi, a man from her past.(This is more an idea really. I'm not sure where it's gonna go.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is definently a work in progress. I haven't decided who the MC will end up with.

A dull ache had formed at the base of my skull, radiating down my spine. I was beyond ready to go home. My lips tilted at the word “home.” I wouldn’t call it that exactly. It wasn’t anything glamorous. Just a one bedroom that gave me a place to sleep. I rarely spent time there.

“Clemmons.”

My chin tilted. I met the stern gaze of my sergeant. His normal smirk of annoyance was gone. In its place, a grim look nearing desperation. I knew I wouldn’t be going home. None of us would. I muttered an unladylike expression beneath my breath.

“He’s killed again, hasn’t he?” It was a mute question. Of course, he had. It kept in line with his pattern…. a pattern I’d told the sergeant about three months ago. He hadn’t believed me. He’d called me crazy, said that it wasn’t my place to look for other cases to investigate.

“I’ve called in the BAU.” He muttered, clearly unhappy about the idea of other hands in his kitchen. I bit back a smile.

“Good. Maybe they can help catch this son of a bitch.”

“I’ve made you lead detective on this case. You can be the one to bring them up to speed.” He thought he was punishing me. In his eyes, he was. But not in mine. The BAU were the perfect people to bring this monster to justice. I didn’t say this of course. I merely nodded. Once he was gone, I rose from my desk. I slid open a drawer, pulling file after file from it. The BAU would have no time to waste once they arrived. I needed to have things ready.

Three hours later and every inch of the once empty bulletin board was filled. Twenty bodies, going as far back as five years, stared at me. The first body had appeared back when I was just a rookie in the academy. The second, a year later. The MO was identical. Runaway teens were no rare thing in the city. No one would think twice about a troubled teenager disappearing from their fourth or fifth foster home. They were the perfect victims.

I glanced down at my watch. The BAU wouldn’t be in for another hour at least. Perhaps I could manage a few minutes of Z’s at my desk. I make a quick exit, shutting the door behind me. I begin to make my way over to my desk when, from the corner of my eye, I see them. Though I’m glad they are here, I am exhausted. I know I look it. I haven’t gotten a proper night’s sleep in months, partially due to the serial killer I knew existed but that everyone else was too afraid to admit haunted the city. The other reason was…more complicated. It was something not even the detectives I worked with knew about.

“SSA Aaron Hotchner.” I overheard him say, reaching my sergeant. I’d managed to pour half a cup of poorly made coffee before steps echoed behind me. I didn’t need to turn to know who stood there.

“Coffee any good?”

Only then did I turn. I brought the bitter liquid to my lips, nose crinkling.

“It’s not bad-“ I paused a beat. “If you enjoy guzzling battery acid.”

A grin spread across his grizzled face. “It’s been too long, Natalie.”

My head tilted. “Five years, four months, one week, one day, and-“I glanced at my watch again.”-six minutes. But, hey, who’s counting?”

At this point, I realize all eyes are on us. Right. They have a case. No…WE have a case. “Let me introduce you to the team.”

David Rossi. He’d been younger the last time we met. Or maybe it only seemed that way? I’d been in my last year of the police academy. He’d actually attempted to poach me, to try and get me to join the FBI…even though, at the time, he’d been retired. I’d considered it…for all of five seconds. I didn’t want to be a Special Agent. I barely wanted to be a police officer. My heart just wasn’t in it either way. Now, that wasn’t to say I didn’t enjoy certain aspects of my job. The bureaucracy was just hard to abide by sometimes. I’d gotten into trouble on more than one occasion due to what they called my “insubordinate attitude.”

I followed Rossi over to where the rest of the BAU members stood. To the outside eye, our behavior might have been construed as “flirting.” In a way, maybe it was. I’d held a little crush on Rossi back in the day. We’d kissed. One time. That was it. He’d shut me down. I was “too young” for him he claimed. He was right.

“Natalie. This is SSA Aaron Hotchner, Derek Morgan, Emily Prentiss, our media liaison Jennifer Jareua.” His gaze slid over to the youngest of them all, “And Dr. Spencer Reid.” He waved a hand towards me. “Natalie and I go way back.”

“Seargent Grant says you’re the lead detective on this case.” Hotchner spoke, deciding to cut right to the chase.

I nod. “Yeah.” I motion them towards the small office where I’d done all my work. “I first noticed a pattern five years ago, when the first known victim surfaced.” I began to explain as we made our approach.

“Five years? You’ve been investigating this for five years?” Hotchner commented. “Why weren’t we called in sooner?”

We entered the room. I waited for each of them to enter before returning to my board. I flipped it over for all to see. A hushed silence fell over them. “Up until three hours ago, no one even knew he existed. Well, no one but me.”

Dr. Reid took a step forward, fingers pushing long strands of hair from his face. His eyes landed on me a moment before returning back to the board. “This is quite extensive.”

“And it’s just the tip of the iceburg.” I sighed. “I believe he’s been killing for a lot longer than five years. These are just the ones I’ve managed to connect him to.” I’d tagged each name on a map. “He never kills twice in the same location which is why he was so hard to track. He crossed numerous state lines, switched up his dump sites. Some he stabbed; others were shot. Hell, one was eviscerated with her throat slashed.”

“How do we know it’s the same unsub?” Prentiss was the next to speak up.

“I pulled each case file.” I waved towards the pile of files on the table before them. “There was one detail that connected them, something that was never released to the press.”

Rossi plucked a case file from the desk. “Melissa Hart. Sixteen years old. Runaway.” He continued to read. “Her hands were bound with a rosary.” 

I nodded. “And not just hers.” Each one of them took a file. “They all were. Each and every one was found with a rosary looped around their wrists.”

In that moment, it felt as if a weight had been lifted from my chest. From the way they buried themselves in the files, I knew I had something. After five years of not being believed, of being called crazy, someone finally believe me.

“Your Sergeant said there was a new body?” Hotchner asked with a sigh.

“Abigail Adams. Seventeen. Washed up in the river a few hours ago. Only-“

“Only what?” Rossi spoke after my pause extended for longer than a few deep breaths of air.

“This one wasn’t found with a wrist bound rosary. He shoved it down her throat.”

“Emily. Reid. You to go to the crime scene. Derek and I will canvas the neighborhood, see if anyone saw or heard anything. JJ. You talk to the foster parents.” Hotchner’s eyes flickered to Rossi. “Rossi. Since you and the detective are so well acquainted, I want you to go over the case files. See if she missed anything.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “I am very good at my job, Agent Hotchner. If something was missed, it wasn’t done by me.”

“I appreciate that, Detective. But we were brought it to assist your department with this case. We need to collect our own data in order to deliver an accurate profile.”

I considered his answer for a moment. “Fine.”


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (I realize it takes more than five years to go from beat cop to detective. I just didn't want to make her too old....though perhaps I should if the two are going to have a relationship.)

**(Rossi)**

  
The alcohol burned its way down the back of my throat. I sat at the dimly lit bar, eyes burning with exhaustion. I knew I should be sleeping. I couldn’t. Not until this son of a bitch was off the streets. The files had turned up nothing of interest. Neither had the neighborhood canvas. I knew it wouldn’t. No one would admit to witnessing a young girl’s death and the fact they hadn’t come forward.

  
I downed another shot of…. whatever alcohol was in the glass. At that point, I didn’t care. I needed something, anything, to take my mind off this case. I’d known it would be bad. What I hadn’t expected was her. I’d barely recognized her at the precinct. The minute I’d laid eyes on her, I knew I would come to regret accompanying Hotch and the others on this case. I had a personal connection to this case. I was biased.

  
She was too young, far too young, for an old man like me to even consider taking to my bed. She couldn’t have been more than twenty-five. She was the lead detective on this case. Even considering anything outside a professional relationship at this point would be seen as a conflict of interest. I hadn’t seen Natalie Clemmons since her second year at the academy. My lips twitched at the thought.

  
I remembered that meeting as if it were yesterday. Her hair had been cropped short back then. She’d been wearing standard issued cadet clothing. I’d been in the town for a book signing. She was sitting in the front row, eagerly listening to every single word. She had been so eager to get my autograph, too eager almost.

  
After that, I’d hung around for a few weeks. We’d gotten close…. too close. It all came to a head one night after I’d taken her out from a round of drinks. She’d been tipsy. She’d kissed me. I’d like it. I’d wanted it to go further. Instead, I’d pushed her away. I was too old for her. We both knew it. She seemed disappointed but took it in stride. After that night, I didn’t have the courage to face her again. I’d written a letter and left. I never looked back.

“This seat taken?”

  
I tilted my head. There she stood, still dressed in the same clothing from a few hours ago. “It’s all yours.” I offered.

  
She slid into it, quickly ordering herself a drink. I couldn’t take my eyes off her. She downed the shot quickly, ordered another, and downed that one in the same fashion. How she knew which hotel to find me out, I hadn’t a clue. But, alas, here she was.

  
“Hotch told me where I could find you.” She spoke after a few moments, answering my unasked question.

  
“Hm.” I offered in response, having nothing else to say.

  
Another silence followed. We sat there, each drowning our own perspective sorrows in the free flowing of alcohol. What was she thinking? Even back then, I could never tell. She’d have made one hell of an FBI agent, that much I did know.

She’d made detective in under five years. That was almost unheard of. He’d heard of the special circumstances surrounding her promotion, on how she had brought a serial child predator to justice.

  
“You never said goodbye.” There was a bite in her words.

  
“I wrote you a letter.” I took another sip of alcohol.

  
She laughed. “I kissed you and you wrote me a letter.” She swiveled in her chair, brushing loose strands of hair from her face. “You could’ve just said goodbye to my face, Rossi. You didn’t have to skip town.”

  
“I didn’t want to hurt you, Natalie.”

  
She rolled her eyes. “Look, I get it. I was young. I can’t say I blame you. Still, five years is a long time to blow someone off over something so stupid.”

  
Should I tell her? No. I couldn’t do that. If she didn’t know…. perhaps it was best she never did. I didn’t leave to protect her. I left to protect myself. I knew that if I let myself, I could’ve lost myself completely to her. That thought….it frightened me more than I would ever admit to myself or to anyone else. Did that make me a bad guy? No. But it did make me a coward.

  
And, just like that, all was forgiven. Or so it would seem. We spent the next few hours reminiscing. Though I hadn’t kept in touch, I had followed her career almost as religiously as she had followed mine. We were both married to the job it would seem. She hadn’t been married or even involved with anyone in the last five years.

  
I did learn she’d gone to college first before enrolling in the police academy. She had a bachelor’s degree in forensic criminology. She was older than I thought. Funny how I’d never even thought to ask her age. If my math was correct, she was closer to thirty. That still made me twenty years older than her.

  
It was at this point; I began to notice the stares. Of course, people would stare. A man my age speaking in such an intimate fashion with a woman her age. It was bound to draw attention. Natalie was well known in this town. God only knows what rumors would spread about her after this. If she noticed, she didn’t seem to care.

  
“I have to ask. You said you’ve been following this man for five years. You weren’t even a police officer yet.”

  
She swallowed another glass of alcohol. How many had she had? I was sure she’d had at least five shots, maybe more. “I…” She sighed, running her fingers through her tangled mess of hair. “It’s complicated, Rossi.”

  
“I’m not going anywhere.” I replied with a shrug.

“It was my final year in the academy. I got a call from….from one of my former foster parents. Their daughter, Cassandra, had gone missing.”

  
“Cassandra Andrews. One of the unsub’s victims.”

  
I nodded. “This was after you’d left.”

“You should’ve called.”

  
“I thought you’d think I was crazy. Hell, everyone else did.”

  
“She was found like the others?”

  
I nodded. “I didn’t start actively investigating until a year later when I saw about another young girl around Cassandra’s age that had gone missing. I…I requested the file. That’s when I saw the connection. I brought it up to my unit chief who threatened to take my badge if I didn’t drop it. I didn’t but I learned to keep my mouth shut.” She downed another glass of alcohol. “If only I’d kept pushing someone to do something, anything. Maybe those other girls would still be alive.”

  
She blamed herself for those other girls. When she got up from her seat, the night should have ended there. Only it didn’t. Somehow, we ended up in my hotel room. She tasted just like I thought she would. Our mouths danced, greedy fingers yanking and tugging at clothing that eventually made its way to the floor. What was I doing? What the hell was I doing?


End file.
